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By Joey Gardiner, 7 November 2000 18:45

NEWS The ASP - called 7 - was launched earlier today, and intends to lay its own leased lines into companies, because only through a private network can it deliver on its SLAs. Karl Roe, CEO of 7, said at the launch in London: "No one can offer an SLA on the internet. At the present level of performance it just isn't possible. It is absolutely key for corporate users to have reliability on performance and when the internet is ready to deliver an SLA we will use it, but it can't do it today." The new ASP is not alone in thinking this - it has the backing of big names such as Cable & Wireless, Cisco, IBM and Microsoft. Terry Smith, director of Microsoft's internet business group, also at the launch, said: "There is always a requirement to guarantee SLAs for the corporate customer. Private networks make this cost effective. This initiative will go a long way to adding credibility to the ASP sector." However, this insistence on using a virtual private network (VPN) and leased lines means the cost of the service will be beyond the reach of most SMEs - thought by many to be the archetypal ASP customer. 7 admits as much, but says it is focusing instead on the medium and large corporate user. Nick Greenway, business analyst at Datamonitor, believes 7 has the right idea. He said: "They are right that the concept of the service level agreement is at loggerheads with the reality of the internet. They are selling on added value, so they don't need to target the SME market." 7 also claims it will address a major failing of ASPs by bringing different applications together. 7 will work with independent software vendors (ISVs) to deliver a complete set of enterprise applications, rather than just one or two, as many ASPs do presently. In theory, the customer then only requires one ASP to talk to, one bill and one service level agreement.
Presently, 7 offers Microsoft Exchange, a number of Lotus applications and a number of tailored vertical applications. Greenway added: "Ultimately their success will depend on the amount of apps they can get. At the moment there isn't exactly a full stable."